In providing services for children with disabilities in community early childhood programs those who will experience the biggest role change are the early childhood special education teachers and related service providers. Service providers may experience a shift from a "special education classroom" where the majority of children (if not all) have disabilities to working in a classroom where the majority of the children are typically developing. Special education teachers may move from having their "own classroom" to working on a collaborative and consultative basis with community early childhood staff. Related service providers roles may be altered from that of direct service to the child to any combination of direct service, consultation, monitoring, and staff training. If a number of early childhood sites are involved with the inclusive model, more staff time will be spent traveling to the different centers. Unique issues and problems arise that will need to be addressed from one center to another.

Related service providers will experience a shift in their role from program to program. Similar to the early childhood special education (ECSE) teacher, the related service providers may help to plan and run center activities which address objectives specific to their discipline (i.e., the occupational therapist plans and implements a cutting activity, the speech therapist plans and implements a language activity). The service providers may also observe and provide feedback to the classroom staff regarding strategies to use, adaptations to be made, and so forth. The related service providers will also be working directly with the child with disabilities during ongoing classroom activities.

It cannot be stressed enough that the most important role of the special services staff is that of consultation with the community early childhood staff to ensure that the child's goals and objectives are addressed on an ongoing basis throughout the classroom day. Peterson (1988) described role release as not only the cooperative interchange of professional expertise, but also the flexibility of the team members to relinquish certain roles and teach their specialized skills to others whenever possible. This philosophy is especially important for related service providers within the inclusive early childhood program.

Related Link:

• Meet with Personnel and Parents in Inclusive Settings
• "Form 9: Related Services provided in the classroom" Index Page